Blue Sea Holly for Dry Hot Spots
Blue Sea Holly
Dry hot spots are the hardest to garden for obvious reasons. Maybe it’s too far to get a garden hose, maybe you are a green gardener that doesn’t like to waste a lot of water or simply nothing grows there. Whatever the reason is, it can be challenging to find an attractive plant that will not only give you nice foliage but nice color as well. If this describes your situation, then you may want to give the Blue Sea Holly a shot!
This attractive plant not only gives you nice lavender blooms but some quite attractive foliage. As an added bonus, it will add some interesting texture as well. The Blue Sea Holly is a rugged and hardy perennial that can survive in most North American zones (zones 4-10). It does well in dry full sun hot spots that only seem to support weed life. The Blue Sea Holly can grow 24″-30″ tall. Blooms are a blue-lavender color and foliage starts green with white veining that gradually turns a blue gray. Flowers are excellent for making dry flower arrangements.
Growing these is quite easy because they don’t require a lot of water or rich soil. In fact, they will do just fine in even sandy soils. So just pick your dry spot, plant, water the first week or two and leave it alone. There is no need to fertilize, as they will do just fine without it and will keep them compact with strong flower stems. If you want a larger plant, with more foliage, you can add some fertilizer but it may produce weak flower stems. In either case, care is minimal.
So if you are having a hard time finding something for that full sun dry spot, the Blue Sea Holly may be for you!
Hardiness Zones: 4-10 Salt tolerant
Sun exposure: Full Sun to Mostly Sunny great for hot dry spots
Height: 24″-30″
Width: Varies up to 2′
Bloom time: Summer
Bloom Color: Lavender
Watering: Drought Tolerant
Soil: Well draining, dry
Availability: DirectGardening.com